


Scalpel Scuffle Princess Pram

by deviltakehimback



Series: AAU Family: Berena and the Fletchlings [1]
Category: Holby City
Genre: AAU family, Other, fletchlings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-15 21:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8072752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deviltakehimback/pseuds/deviltakehimback
Summary: Bernie and Serena mind the Fletchlings while their dad is in hospital and Raf's working late shifts. Based off a prompt from @oneweekobsession on Tumblr and set directly after 'Say a Little Prayer'.TW: Mention of parental loss.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Massive thanks to tumbloggers **bitchenware** and **starfleetwitch** for answering my call for betas. Their feedback has been invaluable.

 

Serena drove Mikey home, stopping at Sainsbury's to grab some supplies for a quick curry to warm up the Fletcher clan. It would go a long way toward pumping them full of nutrients, too. She also picked up some chocolate milk, temporarily wiping the sulk off Mikey's face. She reckoned there’d be plenty in the house for the youngest already, but she counted back to figure out his age anyway, and grabbed a few bits and pieces just in case.

The promise of a hot dinner kept the kids quiet as she cooked. Mikey and Evie shared one end of the dining table, copy books scattered everywhere as they allegedly did their homework. Ella sat on the floor next to them, a massive Frozen colouring book in front of her and a handful of crayons. Serena had popped some newspaper down under her to save the kitchen tiles from the dreaded wax.

After dinner, Serena sat next to Evie and supervised her homework. A thought struck her as she watched Evie scribble down notes on pastimes in French.

“How's Mr Mountain Bike?”

Evie looked at her, puzzled, before realising what she meant and turning back to her notes.

“We broke up.”

“Your choice or his?”

“Mine.”

“Good. Otherwise I'd have to find him and give him a proper telling off for having the nerve to dump a fine young woman like yourself.”

 

\- - -

 

After school the next day, Mikey appeared back on the ward, only to be intercepted by Bernie before he could get to his dad’s room. Fletch and Raf were having some sort of heart to heart, and she was sure they didn’t need Mikey interrupting them.

She walked him down to the vending machine, asking if he liked Milky Bar buttons. She was delighted to see him nod in response. She got Skittles for herself; a bad habit but a good energy boost, they were are least better than cigarettes. They sat down in one of the waiting bays, content to munch for a few minutes without speaking.

Eventually, she asked him which had hurt more, the words or the fists.

“What they said... it was really mean. They’ve hit me before, but it wasn’t the same.”

“The words are worse, I think, because you can think about them over and over. But those bullies don't know what they're talking about.”

He was quiet again, breathing heavily, and visibly struggling to get his next words out.

“I didn't hit them back.”

“I know,” she said, around a mouthful of Skittles. ”Do you know what that means?”

He shook his head, staring at his feet as he swung them back and forth.

“It means you're stronger than any of them.“

 

\- - -

Evie arrived on the ward two days later, a little bit earlier than she probably should have, considering school hours. Fletch was being examined again, and he’d had an outburst at Raf earlier that afternoon, so Bernie stepped in and offered to buy Evie a hot chocolate to keep her occupied. Serena had said it worked a charm the last time.

As they sat down at a corner table, Evie broke the easy silence between them.

“You’re friends with Serena, aren’t you?”

“I am indeed,” she replied, suddenly wary of saying anything out of place. “She’s a very close friend, actually.”

“She said she smoked when she was my age, and she'll teach me how to sneak into nightclubs.”

“Oh really now?” Bernie would pay good money to know how either of those topics came up, with a twelve year-old no less. “And what would your dad think of that?”

“I don’t think we’d tell him.”

“Mmm. Probably best not to. What else did Serena say she’ll teach you?”

“She’s going to help me to become a surgeon, like her.” Evie’s eyes were sparkling with a determination that Bernie remembered from her own years in med school. Before she had time to mention that she was a surgeon, too, Evie had moved on.

“You helped Mikey, with the kids at school that were hitting him.“

“Did I? I specifically remember that conversation never happening.”

“You did. He's been calmer for the past couple days. He said he told a teacher what they'd done. Those other boys. What they said about dad...”

“Your father is going to be okay. We've got a diagnosis and we're working to help him get better.”

“I don't want to lose him like mum.“ Evie’s voice was quiet, almost inaudible, but Bernie heard. She felt trapped, years of training screaming at her not to make promises she couldn’t keep.

“He’s on the mend,” she said, offering what she hoped was an encouraging smile, hands clasped around her own coffee cup and praying that she wasn’t lying.

 

\- - -

**“** I got laughed at for having two dads.”

“What?”

Serena was stationed in her office, blindly signing more bloody paperwork. She looked up to see Evie standing in the doorway.

“Pull up a chair, will you?” She rolled her office chair out from her desk, leaning forward as Evie grabbed a guest seat and planted herself beside Serena.

“Some of the other kids don't even have a dad... I think they're jealous.” Serena could hear the sadness lacing Evie’s words, though it sounded like there was more to it than that.

“I'm jealous of them for having mums, but I don't go around making anyone else miserable because of it.” There it was, a good strong smattering of basic human empathy. Good girl.

“You know, you shouldn't have to put up with any of their nonsense. They're just sticking their nose in.”

“I mean, it does feel sort of like we have two dads. It doesn't matter that they're not together - it wouldn't matter if they were, obviously, but they’re not–”

“–I know what you mean.”

“But they act like dads. Raf's kind of an uncle, I guess. Can I call you Auntie Serena?”

Serena chuckled, but she knew this was better than asking to move in and so she humoured the young girl.

“And why would you want to do that?”

“Well, you're like a mum the way Raf's like a dad, but he's like an uncle, so that means you're more like an aunt.”

“Well, I can't argue with that logic, can I?”

Evie allowed herself to smile and shook her head.

“Thanks, Auntie Serena.”

Serena wondered how many more niblings she was going to pick up in her lifetime.

 

\- - -

 

Serena drove Evie home that evening, collecting her from Fletch’s room as her shift officially ended. Bernie caught up to them as they left the building, asking Serena if she was on duty for the night.

“Looks like it!” She said, bright smile indicating the jest in her words, so as not to insult Evie.

“Would you mind some adult company? I can do nappy duty.”

Serena looked to Evie for her opinion, only to see she was already nodding. She turned back to Bernie.

“I’m on to you, Ms. Wolfe. You just want dinner handed up to you.” Serena made the accusation lightly enough, and stepped out through the automatic doors.

“I will neither confirm nor deny,” Bernie said, winking at Evie as Serena led them out into the carpark.

 

\- - -

 

Bernie was true to her word, valiantly taking up nappy responsibilities, even giving Theo his bath as Serena cooked downstairs. As she made her way back to the kitchen with a freshly scrubbed Theo in her arms, she caught Serena’s eye and they shared a knowing look. Thank god their child-rearing days were over. They'd already used up most of their offspring energy, rising to the challenge of minding Fletchlings because that’s what friends do.

Bernie didn’t really know what to think of Evie but she could understand the devotion in her eyes when she looked at Serena. Bernie couldn’t help but feel endlessly drawn to Serena, seeing her like this. The picture of domesticity, though the feminist in her reeled at that observation. She wondered if this was what she’d been like with Elinor, when she was growing up. Bernie looked on in adoration as Serena talked Evie through the perfect bolognaise, finely chopped shallots and crushed garlic simmering away, and only the slightest bit of tomato purée smeared on Serena’s cheek.

“Now, you did very well with the shallots, very good knife skills," Serena pulled a bowl towards herself, jostling the bobbing tomatoes in their hot water bath. "Chopping tomatoes, however, is a whole different ball game.” 

“Because they’re squidgy?”

“Precisely; they have a much softer texture,” Serena said, peeling the skin off one of them.

Bernie strapped Theo into his high chair, and slotted herself between Ella and Mikey at the dining table. Ella was engrossed in a very brightly coloured but seemingly nonsense game on Raf’s iPad. Bernie fought the temptation to stare over at Serena, focusing her attention instead on Mikey’s maths problems.

 

\- - -

 

Serena made a mean spaghetti bolognaise and taught them all how to twist it against a spoon for minimal mess. She only ended up with a smidge of sauce in her hair, flung from Theo’s plastic bowl of spaghetti-free bolognaise. The smile never left her face, though, and the kids were well fed. There was plenty left over for Raf when he got home and he almost cried at the nostalgic smell that greeted him as he walked through the door, announcing his arrival. He hugged Serena like his life depended on it.

 

\- - -

 

That Friday, Serena bought a princess dress for Ella, and she watched as her adopted niece danced around the sitting room in dizzying circles, barefoot and joyous. Mikey looked on in silent horror, wondering why his little sister got a present and where his one was.

 

\- - -

 

The next morning, Bernie arrived with miniature camouflage Wellingtons for Ella. Pretty princess though she may have been, she was also _very_ fond of stomping in puddles and she might as well be prepared for all eventualities. Even princesses can’t stop it from raining.

At the breakfast table, Bernie slid three packets of Match Attax cards towards Mikey, and she coughed back a laugh as he dropped his spoon into his cereal bowl in his haste to grab them. He almost tipped the whole bowl, then, jumping out of his seat to fling his arms around Bernie.

 

\- - -

 

That night, the kids were due to be in bed long before Raf made it home from the hospital. With Theo finally, mercifully asleep in his cot, Bernie made her way to the girls’ shared room.

Evie in particular had grown on Bernie over the week. They’d all watched _Inside Out_ together that evening, and Evie had been kind enough to pass the tissue box to Bernie without making a fuss. She’d done all her homework, and tonight she wasn’t kicking up about going to bed at the same time as her baby sister. Bernie reckoned it was because she knew a bedtime story was on the cards.

She knocked on their door, stepping into the lamp-lit room when she heard a muffled “Come in!” from inside. Padding barefoot over to the window in the far wall, she bent to pick up a picture book from the pile at the end of Ella’s bed.

“Does your dad read you this?” she asked, lifting it to show Ella the cover. She nodded enthusiastically.

“If he was here right now, I think he’d pick this one.” Another nod from the little one, and Bernie settled in next to her. Ella nestled into her side, careful not to get in the way of Bernie’s hands so they could turn the pages. As she did, she revealed a series of captivating watercolour illustrations.

Bernie picked two distinct character voices, trying her best to imitate Fletch the whole way through. That got a giggle out of Ella, her feet bobbing in excitement next to Bernie’s knee as she read on.

Evie listened intently from her bed across the room, though Bernie resolutely did not look in her direction. She knew she had an audience of two, and kept going to the end of the story even after Ella fell asleep.

When she reached the last line, she swore she could hear Evie whispering along with her.

 

I love you right up to the moon _and back_.

 

She tucked the blanket in around Ella, carefully standing up and turning to confirm her suspicions; Evie was sitting up, a watery grin plastered on her face. She whispered, “Thank you,” and Bernie hesitated for a second before moving towards her and gesturing to the bed, a silent request for permission to be seated. The slightest inclination of Evie’s head and she lowered herself to the mattress, swinging an arm around Evie’s shoulder and pulling her in for a hug.

“He does, you know.”

Evie broke into a sob, as quietly as she could, careful not to rouse Ella from her slumber.

“Thanks, Auntie Bernie.”

“Any time,” Bernie responded, rubbing Evie’s back. Raf had been teasing that she’d get the ‘Auntie’ title soon enough. She’d be quite okay with his gloating.

“Now, it’s your brother’s turn for a story, okay?” Bernie patted Evie’s shoulder and felt her nod. Releasing her, she planted a feather-light kiss on her forehead and whispered, “Good night.”

 

\- - -

 

Mikey didn’t want a bedtime story. Bernie hadn’t expected him to, not really — but a soldier always comes prepared.

“How about you tell me something, then?” She said, sitting on the end of his bed and shuffling in so her back was against the wall and shoving her hands into the pockets of her hoody.

“Like what?” He asked, shrugging down in the bed so the duvet came up to his chin.

“Tell me what you like to do with your dad.”

Mikey looked at her like she had five heads, brow furrowing in confusion, but Bernie saw the hint of an idea in his eyes. She nodded encouragingly.

“Sometimes he’ll put on funny voices for us. Or he’ll take us round the shop and get us something, even if we haven’t said we want anything.”

She let him meander through different things Fletch would do for them, his voice barely above a whisper, his diction so like his father’s. She learned that Fletch would sing to Theo as a distraction while changing his nappy, learning his lesson after the first time he got peed on. She listened as Mikey described afternoons in the local park, kicking a ball around and running after pigeons, just the two of them and no girls allowed.

He kept going, describing the little things that happened every day but that seemed a million miles away with his dad in hospital. After a short while, he seemed to remember that she was still there.

“Bernie?” he asked, sounding every bit the frightened young boy he was. She turned her head to face him.

“Yes, Mikey?”

“I miss him.”

She saw the exact moment when his resolve shattered, tears filling his eyes. He batted at them with the heel of his hands, not wanting her to see him cry.

“It’s okay to let it out,” she said, pulling a tissue from her pocket and dropping it in front of him on the bed.

“Did you know that in, in the army, new recruits are taught how to cry before they’re trained how to shoot?”

He shook his head in response. She wasn’t sure if he believed her or if he was simply going along with it to humour her, but he didn't question it. 

He sniffled, pulling the tissue towards him and dabbing at his eyes. His cheeks were puffy, slightly darker patches blooming on his right cheek. Cameron’s skin had done the same thing when he was a boy.

After a minute or two, Mikey climbed out from under his blanket and crawled over to Bernie, almost falling on her as he leaned in for a bear hug, snotty face pressed into her shoulder. She held him like that until his knees gave out, and she helped him back under the covers.

“Sweet dreams, soldier.”

“G’night Auntie Bernie, sir.”

She flicked the light off, and heard Raf’s key jingle in the front door downstairs.

 

\- - -

 

“How were they?” he stage-whispered, as Bernie came down the last few steps on the stairs.

“Angelic.” She grabbed her shoes from the cabinet under the stairwell, pulling them on with ease.

“Why does that not sound sarcastic?”

“I mean it. They’re tough cookies, the lot of them.”

“You can mind them all you want!”

“That’s why I’m here.” She patted him on the arm, hoping to convey just how willing she was to help. She wouldn’t be there if she wasn’t.

“You alright to get home?”

“I am, I’ve got the car,” she said, grabbing her keys from the table inside the door. She flashed him a hearty smile, breaking the silence once more before it was time to go.

“There’s food in the fridge, two minutes in the microwave should do,” she said, and she could see the gratitude etched into his face. “Serena and I will be over in the morning; we’ve got something lined up for the kids.”

 

\- - -

 

Sunday morning rolled lazily in, and Raf was dazzled by the weirdly quiet children in his house. He wondered if Bernie had sedated them all. He tried to ask Evie what was going on, but all she would tell him was that they’d had a nice time with their babysitter.

 

\- - -

 

Bernie and Serena arrived just before noon. They had arranged family time in the hospital for all of them, bringing in the stroller for Theo and picnic snacks for everyone. Ella brought in some of her crayon drawings to show her dad, and Mikey beamed as he laid out the new additions to his Match Attax stash. Theo mostly just farted.

Fletch was finding it easier to breathe uninhibited these days, but he looked like he wanted to cry the entire time. Raf excused himself for a few minutes, face flushed and looking like he was fighting back tears.

Serena was the only one really paying any attention to Ella’s drawings. Oddly coloured and entirely wonky, one of them showed a line of stick people stretching across the page. The four kids were easily recognisable, little stick figures standing beside a big square house. The four taller figures, though, they looked out of place at first. She soon picked out her own stick-figure portrait, standing next to a little blonde figure, and both of them standing next to two masculine-looking blobs. They were all holding hands. It was Serena’s turn to blink back tears.

 

\- - -

 

This was the first time Bernie had seen them all in one place, and it surprised her just how alike they all were. Their mannerisms were mirror images, each with their own way of doing things but linked by a common thread.

The little ones all had Fletcher’s heart of gold.

 

 


End file.
